Nation’s leader in school choice dramatically outperforms peers, while spending much less

Earlier this week, Education Week released their K-12 Achievement Index, updated with the most recent federal data. The score is a comprehensive assessment of student performance which factors in math and reading proficiency at both the 4th and 8th grade level, high school graduation rates and advanced placement (AP) levels and test scores.

Florida, however, catapulted from an already impressive 11th to now having the 4th highest K-12 achievement ranking in the nation!

Florida is also home to what is by far the most expansive school choice program in the nation. So while it’s obviously inappropriate to conclude that a full-throated embrace of school choice is why Florida’s schools perform so well, it would seem to throw cold water on the claims of some that school choice harms education.

In the below chart, I’ve listed the K-12 Achievement Score of each state, as reported by Education Week in their September 2018 update, alongside that state’s 2016 per-pupil spending, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau. Those dollar amounts have been adjusted to reflect the different price levels across the states, as calculated by the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ Regional Price Parities report.

So while New York’s actual per-pupil spending was $22,366, it is reported as $19,348 in the chart below after accounting for its significantly above average cost of living.

State

K-12 Achievement Score (2018)

RPP-adjusted Per-Pupil Spending (2016)

Spending Rank

K-12 Achievement Rank

Massachusetts

88

$14,465

13

1

New Jersey

84.7

$16,256

7

2

Virginia

79.8

$11,175

31

3

Florida

78.4

$8,947

48

4

Maryland

77.7

$12,974

18

5

New Hampshire

77.2

$14,485

12

6

Minnesota

76.5

$12,699

20

7

Indiana

76.3

$10,915

34

8

Pennsylvania

76

$15,669

8

9

Washington

74.8

$10,933

33

10

Georgia

74.7

$10,607

37

11

Connecticut

74.6

$17,441

3

12

Utah

73.9

$7,146

51

13

Colorado

73.8

$9,296

45

14

Ohio

73.6

$13,552

16

15

Illinois

73.3

$14,338

14

16

Wisconsin

73.2

$12,345

23

17

Wyoming

73.1

$17,003

4

18

Nebraska

73

$13,590

15

19

Vermont

73

$17,592

2

20

New York

72.8

$19,348

1

21

California

72.4

$10,048

41

22

North Carolina

72

$9,672

43

23

Idaho

72

$7,696

50

24

Arizona

71.6

$7,938

49

25

Maine

71.2

$13,494

17

26

Hawaii

71

$11,611

26

27

Tennessee

70.8

$9,767

42

28

Texas

70.6

$9,304

44

29

Rhode Island

70.5

$15,594

9

30

Kentucky

70.4

$11,233

30

31

Iowa

69.9

$12,361

22

32

Kansas

68.9

$11,006

32

33

Delaware

68.8

$14,684

10

34

South Dakota

68.6

$10,392

38

35

Missouri

68.4

$11,523

27

36

Montana

68.3

$12,060

25

37

Michigan

67.8

$12,506

21

38

North Dakota

67.7

$14,615

11

39

Nevada

67.3

$9,199

46

40

West Virginia

66.6

$12,889

19

41

District of Columbia

66.5

$16,531

6

42

Alabama

66.1

$10,665

36

43

Oregon

65.8

$10,864

35

44

Arkansas

64.8

$11,330

29

45

Mississippi

64.1

$10,072

40

46

Oklahoma

64

$9,098

47

47

South Carolina

63.6

$11,350

28

48

Alaska

62.8

$16,613

5

49

New Mexico

61.5

$10,356

39

50

Louisiana

60.9

$12,210

24

51

The chart reveals absolutely no correlation between spending and performance, which once again reaffirms the notion that Nevada’s education woes stem more from a broken, top-down monopoly provider, rather than insufficient funding.

Despite this, however, those within the education establishment insist that further increasing Nevada’s per-pupil spending is the only way to improve performance.

Because those scholarships cost significantly less than the per-pupil amount spent by Nevada’s public school system, each scholarship granted translates into an increase in per-pupil funding for the students who remain in the traditional public school system.

Talk about a win-win. Students get to find a school that suits their needs, while advocates of the status quo get to see if yet another year (I’m at 40 and counting….) of increased funding is finally enough to turn the ship around.

Robert Fellner is policy director at the Nevada Policy Research Institute

Robert Fellner is NPRI’s policy director and joined the Institute in December 2013. Robert has written extensively on the issue of transparency in government. He has also conducted legal research and assisted in crafting legal arguments for numerous public records-related lawsuits, including one which prevailed at the Nevada Supreme Court, resulting in a landmark decision that protected and expanded Nevadans’ rights to access and inspect government records.

An expert on government compensation and its impact on taxes, Robert has authored multiple studies on public pay and pensions. He has been published in Business Insider, Forbes.com, the Las Vegas Review Journal, the Los Angeles Times, RealClearPolicy.com, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Wall Street Journal, ZeroHedge.com and elsewhere.

Robert has lived in Las Vegas since 2005 when he moved to Nevada to become a professional poker player. Robert has had a remarkably successfully poker career including two top 10 World Series of Poker finishes and being ranked #1 in the world at 10/20 Pot-Limit Omaha cash games.

Additionally, his economic analysis on the minimum wage won first place in a 2011 George Mason University essay contest. He also independently organized a successful grassroots media and fundraising effort for a 2012 presidential candidate, before joining the campaign in an official capacity.